Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Looking for a medical doctor in all the wrong places

This could be a real lengthy post, but as I've already blogged once today I'll keep this short.

I'm thinking of taking up a survey here. You'll find out the subject matter in just a second (or a minute depending on how fast you read). I am looking for a family doctor for my clan. This is not as easy as it sounds. Yesterday I called one office where I couldn't actually even speak to a human being. I was told to leave my name, address, phone number, last family doctor's name, and number of people in my family and then maybe they'd call me back with my name on the waiting list....maybe....and I should expect to wait 6 to 8 weeks to hear from them.

WHAAAT?

Yeah. So I figure the "there are 9 of us in my family" line probably scratched me off the list. I even tried to sound pathetic and say "I just would like a dr. for me and my new born son...." (insert violins swelling).

So today I call another office. I actually spoke to what I assume was a person, although her responses were so scripted it was hard to tell. She told me "Our practice is a group practice which means that anytime you book an appointment you can see one of 4 doctors who work here. We are run and managed by the Ministry of Health and because of that we only see 4 categories of patients. Those categories are 65+, 19-25, Low Income, and moderately to severely mentally handicapped. If you find yourself in any of those categories, I can take your name and address and mail you a form so you can begin the application process to see if we can be your care providers. Do you fit into any of those categories?"
So here is where the survey comes in: you tell me, do YOU think I'm moderately to severely mentally handicapped? I mean I *do* have 7 kids and all.

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